A new policy brief issued by Aurora Institute calls on higher education leaders to take various measures to modernize the K-12 educator profession.
The brief called on institutions of higher education to take innovate steps toward modernizing teacher preparation by imparting learning experiences that would develop 21st-century teacher competencies and intrapersonal competencies.
Such competencies include learners, the nature of learning, content and pedagogy, designing for mastery, universal design, cultural competency, assessment literacy among others while intrapersonal competencies, such as a growth mindset, critical thinking, leadership, commitment to equity, innovation and change orientation.
It called on colleges and universities to integrate adult learning aligned to research and the learning sciences while diversifying professional pathways at the same time by partnering with local education authorities and other providers.
The brief emphasized on proactive recruitment and support to prospective teachers with diverse racial, cultural, and religious identities by the universities and colleges.
It also supported the partnership of higher education institutions and preparation programs with states, local education agencies, communities, and schools to promote ongoing learning.
The authors further recommended postsecondary schools to design graduate degrees in specializations such as student-centered, culturally relevant, competency-based, and personalized learning so as to develop distributed leaders.